Mopar Convert

[EDDO4570]

     Hello All,
 
        It has been about fifteen years since I sold my pride n joy. I owned a 1969 428 CJ 3.89 posi Mach 1 [originally a 390 car].
    My best friend and I worked at the same place in Princeton ,NJ. He drove a 71 Cuda 440 4 spd 4.30 posi. We would never carpool,{pride thing}.We would terrorize the locals in thier Saabs and Volvos to and from work. Long story short .Family came ,Mach 1 SOLD. I get a phone call last week, My old buddy says he is getting rid of unfinished projects to people he trusts ,That wont sell them off. So I just received a 67 barracuda convertible for a song. Equiped with incomplete 440 and RF fender. I hope I can find info here on putting her back together and making the right decisions. GOD it feels so good to be back in the knuckle busting fun of building a beast.
  Eddo

[ViperMan]

No need to hope, my friend - you have INDEED found the RIGHT place for everything you'll ever need.

Welcome to Cuda Challenger.com.  We're all good friends here.

A-body 'Cuda with a 440 - that should be a lot of fun.  And as far as former Mach 1 owners go, we hold no grudges. 

    

Jeff

[inot2old]

Welcome,  an A-body Barracuda with a 440 will be fun.  Here is a pic of my buddys '67 Barracuda vert, it just has a 273.

[71chally416]

So be honest, how bad did your Mustang get drug when you raced your buddy?  

[EDDO4570]

He got me off the line real good, Ya no that wonderfull Mach wheel hop thing[keep spare U-joints in the glove box] I would pull past him at in 3rd gear and keep going.The best part was we would double team all the sissy Chevy boys [spit] in IROCs with the guy and his BIG hair girlfriend ,they would choke on our tire smoke .Hell we were a team in those beasts, I learned how to degree in a cam from him and I showed him how to set up a bulletproof oil system.
      I went into a Ben Pilla speed shop to pick a valley pan for him and valve cover gaskets for me.THEY didnt have any in stock !!! I asked them if they had HOT PINK chevy valve covers in stock, they did. NUFF said.

  What kind of stock hi-po exhaust mans will fit ths 440 in the A-body ? He gave me fenderwell headers but i dont want to cut anything up.
   BTW, sweet Cars guys.
   Eddo

[71ChallengerSE]

Welcome! Thats a nice ride. I bet a big block convert. like that is going to be loads of fun. Looks like you have 68 front fenders? We would love to see more pictures.

[72hemi]

www.accurateltd.com can help you with the exhaust and there is a lot of technical information on the big block a body conversion at www.bigblockdart.com Welcome aboard looks like a dun car.

[EDDO4570]

Yes it does have the wrong fender on it, I have to locate a drivers side,note missing in pic, If I can find a 68 fender ,I will probly leave the side markers alone. If I find a 69 I will probly close them both up and make it look orig as possible.
  The car WILL be in me garage by next week and I will post a bunch more pics. I have not seen the entire car yet because it is completely buried under parts.It took 15 minutes of moving parts just to get the hood open. But for how cheap I am getting it, I wont look a gift cuda in the mouth. Heck ,I will take some picks of his toys when I go over with the flatbed. DROOOL.
  Thanks,
Eddo

[71chally416]

He got me off the line real good, Ya no that wonderfull Mach wheel hop thing[keep spare U-joints in the glove box] I would pull past him at in 3rd gear and keep going.The best part was we would double team all the sissy Chevy boys [spit] in IROCs with the guy and his BIG hair girlfriend ,they would choke on our tire smoke .Hell we were a team in those beasts, I learned how to degree in a cam from him and I showed him how to set up a bulletproof oil system.
      I went into a Ben Pilla speed shop to pick a valley pan for him and valve cover gaskets for me.THEY didnt have any in stock !!! I asked them if they had HOT PINK chevy valve covers in stock, they did. NUFF said.

  What kind of stock hi-po exhaust mans will fit ths 440 in the A-body ? He gave me fenderwell headers but i dont want to cut anything up.
   BTW, sweet Cars guys.
   Eddo

I heard there were some fast street Fords back in the 70's, but I never raced one that could beat my 440 Belvedere. I remember racing a 428 Torino when I still had the small valve '65 383 in the car and I walked him in 2nd gear. I remember it well because he was a off-duty Pemberton township NJ Cop and he got out and started kicking his front tire 
You don't wanna hamsting yourself with those crappy A body exhaust manifolds. The drivers side (if you can ever even find one) is a big HP loss because it's so restricted going by the steering box. This company sells under chassis headers that fit if you have manual steering> http://ttiexhaust.com/  I think others make them as well.

[71340RT]

Welcome to the site and it sounds like you should have one fine ride when you get it completed. I would love to have a early Barracuda with a 440 in it.

[EDDO4570]

 I can tell this is going to be a mission and a half. All the headers that look like a nice fit will make me have to pull out the power steering.Heck ,I guess I could use the workout anyway. Hmmmm? wifey wont be able to drive it then. Manual it is.
 Pemberton cops ya say. My stomping grounds were around Columbus NJ in the late 70s early 80s. About a mile from Tillmans junkyard.

 Eddo

[71chally416]

So you probably ran at the Strato Rods dragstrip on the McQuire AFB?? I had a blue 65 Belvedere that ran SS/I and then a Tan '70 Challenger that I ran brackets with there.   

[bb71challenger]

Congrats on the new ride and welcome to here! You will find that pretty much whatever you can think up to ask,  at least one of the guys here knows the answer. That Mach I sounds like it was pretty nice. My son loves fastback Mustangs and my cousin owns a 351 Mach I

[EDDO4570]

No , we never went to McGuire AFB, some times we would go to Atco but most of the time we would drag on Rt.68  before the developments and lights were put in. After 10 o'clock at night the only thing around was lightpoles, ditches and a rare loose cow. my nieghor in columbus had a 70 road toad that I helped him with alot. That 383 tightened my butt a couple of  times.That guy had THE worst luck and must have ticked off murphy at some point. Here is my First MOPAR experience {figured id share}
    We had just dropped in a fresh 383 and were setting up the 4spd linkage and wiring.You had to use a large flat tip screwdriver to start it.Te passenger seat was not bolted down .While i was sitting in the Dr seat I hammered down on the gas pedal and it stuck to the floor. It wasnt running so I told Dave that something was binding and like usual he forgot in a second or two.We had finally got it running and timed so I ran home to grab some food and that is when all hell broke loose. I am sitting at the diner table and I hear the road runner coming out of the back yard with this other guy sitting in the passenger seat.Open headers and Daves typical brake-in time NONE. I stick my head out the front door to watch what I no is going to be a Full throtle launch. He hammered it to the floor, THROTLE is now stuck WOT, Paul, the guy sitting in tha pass seat ,that isnt bolted down tumbles into the rear seat ,the screwdriver that Dave used to start and shut off the ignition flies somewhere in the back seat. In a total panic he shifts from 1st to forth to try and stall it. He goes by my house at about 90 mph The clutch is a fire ball and a 90 degree turn is coming that he will not make at that speed. He goes straight into a cornfield at atleast 100 .The car is so far back in the field that I couldnt hear the engine or crash ,Nothing at all. 1 or 2 minutes later Dave comes wlking out screaming and yelling, Paul had soiled himself . SO what was Dave yelling about? He was pissed the fuel pump couldnt keep up with the motor and thats why it died. At that point in my life I figured all hardcore mopar guys were nuts. So now im here , Please dont hurt me.

[71chally416]

   I'm not surprised somebody from Columbus would do that. I'm even worse cause I'm from Browns Mills, a real Piney (someone who lives around alot of pine trees in S Joisey for those from other places)

I had an old double pumper Holley on my old 440 challenger that would stick open like that. I needed a stiffer return spring. I was going down Rt 130 next to the concrete median at rush hour and I jumped on it and the throttle stuck to the floor. I turned off the key, but then the steering column would lock so I went down the highway turning the key off and on trying to steer the car in traffic without wrecking. You should have seen the looks I was getting.